{"id":5413,"date":"2024-08-27T09:34:28","date_gmt":"2024-08-27T06:34:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.packlab.gr\/?p=5413"},"modified":"2025-06-12T12:43:22","modified_gmt":"2025-06-12T09:43:22","slug":"wur-launches-flex-forward-project","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.packlab.gr\/en\/wur-launches-flex-forward-project\/","title":{"rendered":"Recycled Content Food Packaging Films Innovation"},"content":{"rendered":"<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.wur.nl\/en.htm\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">Wageningen University &amp; Research (WUR)<\/a> has recently announced the launch of the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.wur.nl\/en\/project\/flex-forward.htm\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">\u201cFlex Forward\u201d<\/a> project, which aims at ensuring the safety and efficiency of recycled polyethylene (PE) and polypropylene (PP) films used in food packaging. This collaborative effort involves WUR working alongside 11 industrial partners and focusing on improving the safety standards of these materials for food contact applications.<\/p><div id=\"ez-toc-container\" class=\"ez-toc-v2_0_82_2 ez-toc-wrap-center counter-hierarchy ez-toc-counter ez-toc-custom ez-toc-container-direction\">\n<div class=\"ez-toc-title-container\">\n<p class=\"ez-toc-title ez-toc-toggle\" style=\"cursor:pointer\">TABLE OF CONTENTS<\/p>\n<span class=\"ez-toc-title-toggle\"><\/span><\/div>\n<nav><ul class='ez-toc-list ez-toc-list-level-1 ' ><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-1\" href=\"https:\/\/www.packlab.gr\/en\/wur-launches-flex-forward-project\/#Addressing_New_Legislative_Pressures\" >Addressing New Legislative Pressures<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-2\" href=\"https:\/\/www.packlab.gr\/en\/wur-launches-flex-forward-project\/#Evaluating_Safety_and_Performance\" >Evaluating Safety and Performance<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-3\" href=\"https:\/\/www.packlab.gr\/en\/wur-launches-flex-forward-project\/#Innovative_Recycling_Techniques\" >Innovative Recycling Techniques<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-4\" href=\"https:\/\/www.packlab.gr\/en\/wur-launches-flex-forward-project\/#Impact_on_the_Packaging_Industry\" >Impact on the Packaging Industry<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-5\" href=\"https:\/\/www.packlab.gr\/en\/wur-launches-flex-forward-project\/#Conclusion\" >Conclusion<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/nav><\/div>\n\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h3 style=\"text-align: left;\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Addressing_New_Legislative_Pressures\"><\/span><strong>Addressing New Legislative Pressures<\/strong><span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">The initiative comes in response to emerging <strong>legislative pressures<\/strong> that will likely require the incorporation <strong>of more recycled content in plastic packaging<\/strong>. These regulations are expected to significantly impact both the fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) sector and the plastic recycling industry, driving the need for safer and more effective recycling practices.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h3 style=\"text-align: left;\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Evaluating_Safety_and_Performance\"><\/span><strong>Evaluating Safety and Performance<\/strong><span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">The \u201cFlex Forward\u201d project will provide comprehensive data on the <strong>suitability, safety, and performance<\/strong> of recycled flexible PE and PP films. Apparently, WUR plans to use their knowledge of plastic performance evaluation with the infrastructure for analysis and identification for\u00a0both <strong>known and unknown food contaminants<\/strong>. This research is critical, since <a href=\"https:\/\/www.foodpackagingforum.org\/news\/study-detects-dna-reactive-mutagenic-substances-in-recycled-pe-pp-and-ps\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">previous studies<\/a> have raised concerns over the potential presence of<strong> DNA-reactive, mutagenic substances in recycled plastics<\/strong>, which could pose significant risks when used in food packaging.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-large wp-image-5480\" src=\"https:\/\/www.packlab.gr\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/pikaso_texttoimage_Lively-green-recycling-symbol-with-three-curved-ar-1024x512.jpg\" alt=\"Recycled Content Food Packaging Films Innovation\" width=\"1024\" height=\"512\" \/><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h3 style=\"text-align: left;\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Innovative_Recycling_Techniques\"><\/span><strong>Innovative Recycling Techniques<\/strong><span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">One of the main exploration areas within the project is the use of <strong>solvent-based recycling technologies<\/strong>, which are considered &#8220;climate-positive&#8221; due to their high plastic-to-plastic yield. This method is particularly effective at removing contaminants such as additives, thereby improving the overall purity of recycled materials.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h3 style=\"text-align: left;\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Impact_on_the_Packaging_Industry\"><\/span><strong>Impact on the Packaging Industry<\/strong><span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Flexible films represent approximately <strong>30 %<\/strong> <strong>of the total plastic food packaging market<\/strong>. Currently, recycled PE and PP films are often relegated to low-value applications due to quality concerns. The Flex Forward consortium aims to enhance the quality of these materials, potentially increasing their value and utility in higher-end applications.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong>\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<h3 style=\"text-align: left;\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Conclusion\"><\/span><strong>Conclusion<\/strong><span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">The \u201cFlex Forward\u201d project is a pivotal step toward ensuring that recycled content plastics can safely be used in food contact materials, aligning with both regulatory demands and industry sustainability goals. By improving the safety and performance of recycled PE and PP films, this initiative could significantly enhance the value of recycled materials, making them a more attractive option for food packaging while also supporting the circular economy\u200b.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Wageningen University &amp; Research (WUR) has recently announced the launch of the \u201cFlex Forward\u201d project, which aims at ensuring the safety and efficiency of recycled polyethylene (PE) and polypropylene (PP) films used in food packaging. This collaborative effort involves WUR working alongside 11 industrial partners and focusing on improving the safety standards of these materials&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":5480,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28,542],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5413","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news-en","category-new-tech-en","category-28","category-542","description-off"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.packlab.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5413","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.packlab.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.packlab.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.packlab.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/8"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.packlab.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5413"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/www.packlab.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5413\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5484,"href":"https:\/\/www.packlab.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5413\/revisions\/5484"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.packlab.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5480"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.packlab.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5413"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.packlab.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5413"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.packlab.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5413"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}